Nightmare factory, p.40
Nightmare Factory, page 40
Gi helped Bayou hook him into the specialized trauma sleeve and lower their commander into the pod-shaped med unit. The ship’s medical AI would take over treatment from here.
“He never expected to make it back out,” Bayou said.
G-Force was the closest one to her. He put an arm out and touched hers lightly. “He is a warrior. No matter what, it is better that he is with us.”
She fought back the tears and looked up and around. The ship’s display all showed reports of more crises gripping the planet.
“Why Joe… why?” She said it softly. Mostly to herself. Then she saw the mother and child looking on with concern. Maybe something more. Lux was a wonder. He had already familiarized himself with the ship’s controls, many of the weapons, and never stopped asking those damn good questions.
“You did good, Boss.” Bayou carefully kissed his forehead and moved to let others make peace with their fallen brother. The monitor showing the master sergeant’s respiration and heart rate fall for another forty minutes before seeming to stabilize.
Bayou and Packer had come up with the essence of a plan. It was crude and risky as hell. Since they had no one to report to and nowhere safe to go, the solution was both simple and fortuitous.
They matched orbit with the IAS Stone Mountain, and the TriCraft entered the darkened warship. It had been parked in high orbit awaiting its next crew. It was one of the older Monolith class carriers, not as big as the Alice Springs but by no means a lightweight. Packer had scoped it out earlier, finding only a small maintenance crew aboard.
The TriCraft slid into a docking cradle. In minutes, they had the medical pod out and Kovach hooked into the more advanced systems in the ship’s surgical suite. No one spoke, no one left the room. They sat with him, knowing the end was close. Carol touched Joe’s broken body tenderly, her face a mask of pain and tears.
Lux ran his fingers gingerly over the scarred arm. “He’s the one who saved me.”
Bayou nodded. “He ordered us to come find you, no matter what.”
“But if you had stayed, you could have saved him,” the boy said.
“No, despite the damage, he isn’t dying from what happened down there in that awful place.”
“So, what was he doing there, trying to save himself?”
“He was trying to save all of us, Lux.”
Kovach drew in a deep breath, then several shallow ones. The monitors flashed red as the levels all suddenly dropped to zero. The side guards on the bed slid up, preventing anyone from reaching in, and the medbot began performing CPR, then periodically shocking the heart. It did no good, nothing changed. No signs of life remained. This continued for a while…. too long. Bayou eventually canceled the resuscitation order. She was aware of Joe’s wishes. The lifesaving attempts whirred to a quiet stop, then shut down, the mechanical arms retracting back into the machine’s housing with a snap.
“Master Sergeant Joeseph Kovach is officially pronounced dead at 9:48 PM Earth Standard Time,” the shipboard system said with appropriate solemness.
The lieutenant continued to hold Joe’s hand long after the others had turned and left. Sumo lay under the edge of the pod and occasionally looked up at her. The dog’s eyes weren’t sad. In fact, they seemed oddly unconcerned with what had just happened to his partner.
“Nice to be a dog right now,” she said through her tears.
“You left me a mess, you bastard. I know it wasn’t your fault, but Jesus, Joe, I need you here. I can’t stop those things down there.”
She ran her hand over his personal effects. His clothes had all been cut away. His body lay beneath a pristine white sheet soaked with blood in various places. Gi had reverently taken the meager possessions from his pockets. An ID badge for some doctor, a wooden figure that looked remarkably like Sumo, and a strange black, multisided object that she was clueless about.
She leaned back in the chair, looking at the obsidian object. “What am I going to do now?” They had a ship, food, a dropship for as long as it kept working, but not much else. Someone out there had taken out the Alice Springs. Would this ship be next?
* * *
The squads all had a tradition. They stayed with their fallen until the family got the body or until the funeral. It was a simple task, just a final way of paying respect to a fellow warrior. First, she’d had to abandon Darko, now Joe. Bayou left reluctantly after a couple of hours.
Halo came in next. He’d brought Sumo a plate of food and some water. The dog stayed rooted under the bed. All the lines and monitors had been removed, and the body had been cleaned by the bots. A fresh sheet was now covering Kovach. He would not be embalmed, no one ever did that anymore, but his final request had always been cremation. Looking at the burns and scars, it looked like something had nearly cremated him prior to death. Halo bent closer; he would have sworn the wounds had looked worse earlier. The bots had done a nice job cleaning him up.
Priest took the next watch and read to him from a book. Kovach had never been much of a reader, but somehow, the story reminded the sniper of his sergeant. Glory Road by Robert Heinlein, an ancient classic. “It’s a hell of a note when you can’t even kill a dragon and feel lighthearted afterwards.”
Priest smiled; he’d seen his boss kill everything but dragons. What Gi had described down in that hole had sounded even worse. When his time was up, he patted the arm. “Going to miss you, buddy.”
Gi’s shift was in the company of Carol and Lux. He liked them both, and although he’d only known Kovach for a day, he couldn’t deny the bond forged in the pits of that awful place. Lux had brought in a small puppy and introduced her to Sumo. The two dogs were instantly nipping and playing. It was a side of the dog that seemed completely alien. Gi had fought beside the husky and could attest that it was a killer. Now it was rolling on its back, nipping at the smaller dog.
“He looks good,” the woman said.
“Huh?”
“They did a good job on him, I mean,” Carol said.
She moved back so Lux and Gi could see. Lux stood by his face and brushed the hair away from Joe’s eyes. If dead people bothered the kid, he didn’t show it.
Gi realized the woman was right. Joe looked better than he had all day. The boy was swinging on one of the rails the med bots had used earlier to travel up and down the bed. He was humming some ridiculous tune as he did so. The innocence of children.
Sumo stopped his playing and cocked his head, looking over Junie and toward the bed.
Lux eyed his mom and then Gi, before breaking out into song.
“Hey, Macarena!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JK Franks is the popular author of numerous post-apocalyptic and near-future techno-thriller novels. He is an admitted tech geek, science nerd, cyclist, and storyteller. JK Franks' world was formed by a childhood growing up during the Space Age when he developed a love for books. He became an avid student of history and science and a regular reader of everything from reference books to dusty, old biographies. Once he discovered science fiction, he never looked back.
* * *
His work is mostly near-future thrillers, characterized by meticulous research, hard science, and a gritty, seldom-matched realism. “I hate stupid characters,” states Franks. “Or even worse, smart characters, acting stupid.” All of his work combines his passion for hard science fiction, well-crafted characters, and superb storytelling.
* * *
No matter where he is or what's going on, Franks tries his best to set aside time every day to answer emails and messages from readers. You can visit him on the web at www.jkfranks.com. Please subscribe to his newsletter for updates, promotions, and giveaways. You can also find the author on Facebook or email him directly at media@jkfranks.com.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
About the Author
Other Books by JK Franks
Don't miss out!
Click the button below and you can sign up to receive emails whenever JK Franks publishes a new book. There's no charge and no obligation.
https://books2read.com/r/B-A-CIFM-WGUAC
Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
Also by JK Franks
Cade Rearden Thriller
State of Chaos a Cade Rearden Thriller
Midnight Zone a Cade Rearden Thriller
Catalyst Series
Downward Cycle
Kingdoms of Sorrow
American Exodus
Ghost Country
The Catalyst Series
Savage Earth
Nightmare Factory (Coming Soon)
Standalone
The Night Gate
JK Franks, Nightmare Factory
